Page 53 of Everyone Loved Her

“What’s that?” I downed the rest of my drink.

“So, I only know this for sure because Sarah got reallydrunk here one night—the night she found out, actually. I’m sure the cops know by now though.”

All of my senses went on edge. “What did she find out, Lauren?”

She met my gaze“She was pregnant.”

My mouth dropped open. “But she drank the night that we came here,” I reasoned, shaking my head. “That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“Well, I mean, not everyone listens to the doctor’s guidance,” Lauren reasoned. “There’re plenty of women who do alotof dumb things when they’re pregnant. She showed me the test, so I know that it’s the truth. I don’t know what she did about it after the fact. I have no idea who knew, or what she did afterward.”

“Who was the dad?”

She gave me a funny look. “Only God knows. Like I said, she’s always entertained a ton of men around here. The decent ones tend to cut and run early, but even then, there’s something about her that just draws them in, ya know? She was beautiful and sweet—and probably a little naïve in the way that she was so trusting. But in my opinion, you never really know someone. That’s the LA experience talking.”

I nodded in agreement, though I was still stunned by the news. “Do you know who she was seeing most recently?”

“You sound like a cop,” Lauren laughed. “But um, to answer the question, the most recent people I saw her with would’ve been Blaze Harris—though Iknowthat never amounted to anything—and then Ty Miller. Garrett was always around her, too. I’m not sure that he had a thing for her, but who knows when it comes to him. My guess is he was too drunk to do anything.”

“Gotcha,” I said, making a mental note and trying to ignore the sick feeling in my gut. I didn’t even want to go down the rabbit hole of my imagination.

But at the same time, I felt desperate for answers.

“Hey, here’s my number,” Lauren said, scribbling down on a napkin. “I need to get back to customers but call me sometime. Drink is on the house tonight. I’d love to catch up with you, hear some stories about the Windy City.”

“Yeah, of course,” I said, though Lauren was already gone, heading off to speak with a customer flagging her down. I grabbed up the napkin, shoving it into my jean pocket before sliding off the stool and heading for the back exit—the same one that I had gone out of the last time.

No one seemed to notice as I disappeared down the dimly lit hallway, slipping out of the door and into the night air. Surprisingly, this time the motion lights immediately kicked on, illuminating the very empty gravel area. There wasn’t a soul in sight, and my reason for exiting that way was my lack of using my head. My boots crunched on the gravel as I made my way back around to the parking lot, a shiver of fear rolling through my body. I felt the urge to sprint.

But then something caught my attention as soon as I made it to the front, my eyes able to cast across the lot.

My truck door waswideopen.

My heart jumped to my throat as I stood there frozen, wondering if I had been careless enough to leave it open... Or if someone else had done it. I inched toward the truck, halfway prepared for someone to jump out of nowhere and grab me, all my past cases I’d worked on coming back to mind. I lunged for the door, peering inside for split second before jumping in. I slammed the door and locked it. Takinga deep breath, I gazed around to see if anything had been stolen.

It looked fine... Until I caught sight of a piece of paper sitting in the passenger seat. I swept it up, reading the gawdy block letters.

GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM

ORELSE

Chapter 25

Garrett staredat the phone lighting up his console, just as he’d put his truck in park. He picked it up and answered, bracing for what he knew was to come. “Hey Dad.”

“What the hell are you thinking? First, Blaze Harris gets ahold of the gunIgave you for emergencies, andnow,you go calling him ‘cause youfounda dead girl’s cell phone?”

He swallowed, running his hand along his jaw. “I’m just tryin’ to do the right thing, I guess.”

“Really?” Sheriff Myers scoffed. “And take the whole family down with you? You do realize I kept your name off the report to try and protect you, and now you’re bound and determined to get us all in trouble. Think you mighta been easier to handle when you were drinking more.”

“I never asked you to keep my name off the report. I never asked you to protect me, either.” Garrett fought to hold back his anger, his voice strained. “Maybe if you just let me face the consequences of my actions?—”

“Don’t even start,” his dad snapped, cutting him off. “I watched the DA ruin your life after that accident, and ittook years for you to have a shot at normalcy.That’swhat I got for letting you pay the consequences. I should’ve pulled more strings when I had the chance.”

Garrett pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. “Maybe had I worked a little harder and kept my head on straighter, I wouldn’t have had such a hard time finding some kind of normalcy. I was just a kid—a stupid one.”

“You were given one crappy hand,” Sheriff Myers sighed, the hardness in his voice fading. “And now we’re all going to be in some hot water. Blaze submitted that gun to the state lab, and he didn’t say it was in your possession anywhere. I know they ain’t gonna jump on testing it, since we’re still waiting on the official ME’s report, but…”

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